Civic engagement awards to kick-off Ivy Tech’s annual O’Bannon Institute today

Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus is hosting its 12^th annual O’Bannon Institute for Community Service on April 29-30 and May 1. An awards ceremony to honor faculty, staff, students, and community partners for excellence in civic engagement will kick off the annual three-day event. The awards ceremony will be held in the Hoosier Times student commons on Wednesday, April 29 at 4 p.m. in the Connie and Steve Ferguson Academic Building.

“One of Ivy Tech’s goals, as a comprehensive community college, is to model a service-oriented learning environment,” said Chelsea Rood-Emmick, executive director of civic engagement at Ivy Tech-Bloomington. “In the past year, the college has contributed a total value of nearly $1.8* million in the communities we serve.”

*Figure based on national value of volunteer time from www.IndependentSector.org.

In the 2014/15 academic year (to-date), 2,600 students, or 40 percent of Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s student body, participated in courses with a service-learning component. Between volunteer hours and service-learning classes, Ivy Tech-Bloomington reported nearly 79,000 hours at 80 agencies or organizations in our communities.

Award categories for the 2015 O’Bannon Institute for Community Service Civic Engagement Awards Ceremony include the Community Partner Award, the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Community Partner Award, the Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship Community Partner Award, Excellence in Service-Learning, Excellence in Volunteerism, Jeanine C. Rae Humanitarian Award, and the John R. Whikehart Civic Engagement Award that was established in 2013. Recipients receive a $500 stipend for contributions to their community.

The Excellence in Service-Learning award recipient is psychology adjunct faculty, Albee Mendoza, for Supporting Scribe. Her students, enrolled in health psychology class, were matched with clients who had care coordinators through Positive Link. Students and clients penned letters to each other throughout the semester. The project, Supporting Scribe, enabled students to further understand topics of health psychology, healthy behaviors and habits, utilization of services, and stress management, while providing support to clients.

There are two Excellence in Faculty/Staff Volunteerism award recipients. The first is humanities adjunct faculty, Tim Jessen, for his involvement with Shalom Community Center, Bloomington Rotary, and Bloomington Professional Exchange. For the past ten years, he has served as volunteer chaplain on weekends at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. He sings with the Bloomington Chamber Singers and is organizer of Ivy Tech singers.

The second Excellence in Faculty/Staff Volunteerism award recipient is Associate Professor and Assistant Department Chair of Business Administration, Nancy Frost, MS, MBA. Frost serves Kiwanis Club of Bloomington and the Bloomington Boys and Girls Club. She is also a member of Psi Iota Xi. Frost served as co-chair for Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s “Here We Grow Again!” internal capital campaign and coined its name.

Marianne Cox, Ivy Tech nursing student, earned the Excellence in Student Volunteerism award for her participation in a mission trip to Haiti, Ivy Tech’s Alternative Spring Break in Guatemala, and organizing a Student Ambassador service project with the Shalom Center. She’s a member of Phi Theta Kappa and a Student Ambassador.

Rebekah Burns, Ivy Tech human services student, has been named the Jeanine C. Rae Humanitarian award recipient for her work with children with special needs at the Boys and Girls Club in Ellettsville. Showing strong dedication to service and the importance of her role there, she returned to the Boys and Girls Club just weeks after giving birth. The Jeanine C. Rae Humanitarian Award was established to recognize a student whose way of life demonstrates concern for the well-being of others.

Ivy Tech’s Community Partner Award recipient is the City of Bedford, for their longstanding partnership. Most recently, in a collaborative partnership between the City and the college, Ivy Tech was able to acquire space at the Stone Gate Arts and Education Center to serve students in the local community. Additionally, City of Bedford Mayor Shawna Girgis has joined the Ivy Tech-Bloomington Regional Board of Trustees.

Ivy Tech’s John Waldron Arts Center Community Partner award recipient is the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, for its support of Ivy Tech’s preschool Arts Infusion work at Fairview Elementary school and now expanded to include Highland Park Elementary school. The Foundation is also a partner in Ivy Tech’s Regional Arts Partnership with the Indiana Arts Commission, and has also provided grant funds for Ivy Tech’s Cook Center for Entrepreneurship.

The Cook Center for Entrepreneurship Community Partner award recipient is Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association, for its significant partnership and shared vision to launch and grow businesses in our community. The BUEA has invested resources in the Cook Center for programs like the CEO Roundtable and Lemonade Day.

The John R. Whikehart award recipient is Chelsea Rood-Emmick, MSW, LSW, executive director of civic engagement at Ivy Tech-Bloomington, for her longstanding commitment to both the college and community. Since becoming the director of civic engagement in 2009, Rood-Emmick has grown service-learning classes from 16 to 99. The campus has made the U.S President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll six times (seven total). She’s also led Alternative Spring Break for six years. Rood-Emmick was awarded the 2011 Community Service award from Fuse Business Innovation and named a 2013 10 Under 40 from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. She teaches a service-learning class at Indiana University and supervises social work students in their final practicum at the GLBT office there. Rood-Emmick will take finals at Indiana State University for her last semester of doctoral coursework on Friday, May 1. The John R. Whikehart award was established in 2013 to recognize those who were called to serve.

Tomorrow morning, April 30, more than 100 Ivy Tech-Bloomington students, faculty, and staff will participate in a Day of Service in the community, preceding the O’Bannon Institute fundraising dinner with Sir Bob Geldof at the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center. Volunteers will serve at Head Start, Bloomington Animal Shelter, Adopt-A-Road (Daniels Way), Bloomington Parks and Recreation, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, and PetsAlive.

On Friday, May 1, Ivy Tech-Bloomington will welcome the community for its annual Institute filled with a day of discussion, workshops, and a closing conversation with Shiza Shahid, Malala Fund co-founder and Bob Zaltsberg, The Herald-Times editor.

More information about the annual O’Bannon Institute for Community Service can be found online at http://obannon.ivytech.edu.

Information about Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s Center for Civic Engagement can be found online at www.ivytech.edu/civicengagement.

Event sponsors for the 12^th annual O’Bannon Institute for Community Service include, Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, Bloomington Ford, Inc., City of Bloomington, CFC Properties, Cook Medical, The Herald-Times, Inc., IU Credit Union, Markey’s Rental and Staging, Sterling Real Estate, Inc., Smithville, and Linda and John Whikehart.